New Zealand / Weather

Otago flooding: What to know about evacuation centres, roads and forecasts

01:03 am on 5 October 2024

Photo: Otago Daily Times / Debbie Porteous

More rain is on the way for an already soaked Otago where homes were evacuated and streets flooded overnight, though warnings have eased.

If life or property is threatened always dial 111 for Police, Fire or Ambulance. Local authorities are responsible for civil defence emergency management in their area.

A red rain warning for North Otago, Dunedin and coastal Clutha has expired. However, a state of emergency remains in place for Dunedin and the Clutha district.

Follow RNZ's live updates here.

RNZ is New Zealand's statutory civil defence lifeline radio broadcaster, providing vital information and updates as they come to hand. All frequencies can be found here.

Here's what you need to know:

Evacuation centres

Dunedin City Council was evacuating Waikouaiti residents to the East Otago Events Centre as of Friday afternoon.

Forsyth Barr Stadium was opened up for anyone needing to leave their home. Enter the Stadium centre at gate J, there was plenty of parking and pets were welcome.

People in need of help to reach the evacuation centre should phone 03-477-4000.

The initial evacuation centre at St Clair Golf Club has been closed.

Transport

More than 30 streets in Dunedin were closed due to flooding early on Friday along with highways around the region.

You can find our list of the closures in here.

All Dunedin buses were also cancelled on Friday morning, but many have since returned to reduced service. For full details on particular routes, visit the Orbus Facebook page.

Sandbags

Sandbags were available from the Ice Stadium in South Dunedin, Memorial Park carpark in Mosgiel, and the showgrounds in Middlemarch.

Bring your own spade.

Polytech closed, university open

It's already school holidays for younger students.

Otago Polytechnic announced its Dunedin Campus would be closed Friday.

Otago University said its Dunedin campus was still open but staff and students should only travel to it if it was safe for them to do so.

Burst water main/pipes

A burst water pipe has left homes on the Otago Peninsula without water, the Dunedin City Council said.

The water outage extends out from Irvine Road to all households in Portobello.

Water tankers were being placed at Vauxhall, MacAndrew Bay playground and Portobello main street opposite the shops.

People were asked to use the water for drinking to conserve the reservoir.

Meanwhile, West Harbour residents were also asked to conserve water following a slip on Manapouri St, Ravensbourne, which had ruptured a water pipe.

Slips were restricting access for tankers for West Harbour residents. Residents in this area were asked to conserve water from St Leonards to Deborah Bay.

Forecast

MetService was forecasting the heavy rain would ease by Friday night.

The red heavy rain warning was due to expire at 11pm.

Power cuts

Earlier, power was out to about 100 homes in Cape Saunders and Highcliff due to slips and flooding. Restoration was expected by 4pm Friday.

Road closures meant there would be delays in restoration, Aurora Energy said.